Georgia among states that have joined in the lawsuit
The U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from multiple states and the District of Columbia are suing to block Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna and Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana, alleging that the transactions would increase concentration and harm competition across the country, reducing from five to three the number of large, national health insurers in the nation.
The department and state attorneys general filed these two merger challenges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on July 21, 2016. The complaints allege that the two mergers – valued at $54 billion and $37 billion – would harm seniors, working families and individuals, employers and doctors and other healthcare providers by limiting price competition, reducing benefits, decreasing incentives to provide innovative wellness programs and lowering the quality of care.
“Competitive insurance markets are essential to providing Americans the affordable and high-quality healthcare they deserve,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. “These mergers would restrict competition for health insurance products sold in markets across the country and would give tremendous power over the nation’s health insurance industry to just three large companies. Our actions seek to preserve competition that keeps premiums down and drives insurers to collaborate with doctors and hospitals to provide better healthcare for all Americans.”
Eleven states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Tennessee and Virginia – and the District of Columbia joined the department’s challenge of Anthem’s $54 billion acquisition of Cigna. Eight states –Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia – and the District of Columbia joined the department’s challenge of Aetna’s $37 billion acquisition of Humana.
